ALTOONA — Same stadium, same opponent, same round of the state playoffs as last year, and again, Central Catholic’s Chrys Black Jr. had the ball in his hands.
And, again, the Vikings won.
The talented sophomore rushed for 215 yards and three touchdowns Saturday night as Central Catholic ran over Harrisburg, 32-14, in a PIAA Class 6A semifinal victory at Mansion Park Stadium.
A year ago, as a freshman defensive back, Black made a game-saving interception in the end zone that sent the Vikings to the state finals. This time, he earned the team a return trip by carrying the football 37 times.
There was no hint of the hamstring injury that had sidelined him for much of this season. Instead, Black scored on runs of 34, 8 and 26 yards while outrushing Harrisburg’s Messiah Mickens, a Virginia Tech-bound senior.
“It’s hard to put into words what that kid did tonight,” Central Catholic coach Ryan Lehmeier said. “His resilience, his ability to bounce back after a season being injured. … Everybody in our locker room, the coaching staff, we know exactly what he’s made of. Chrys Black is made for big moments, and he was big tonight in so many ways.”
Central Catholic (13-1) advances to face District 12 champion La Salle College (12-1) in the finals at 7 p.m. Saturday at Cumberland Valley.
The state championship pairing is a rematch from earlier this season. The Philadelphia Catholic League team defeated Central Catholic, 23-6, in a Week Zero opener at the Wolvarena.
“We’re better now,” Black said, “so it’s going to be a ballgame for sure.”
Against Harrisburg, Black scored twice in the second quarter to give Central Catholic a 22-6 lead. Roman Thompson added 27 rushing yards on seven carries and scored a 4-yard touchdown in the first quarter, but otherwise the ball was mostly in Black’s hands.
Vikings quarterback Owen Herrick completed only 6 of 13 passes for 79 yards.
“I was just playing physical football, running hard,” Black said. “I knew what kind of game it was going to be, so I was ready.”
Central Catholic kicker Antonio Difatta added a 43-yard field goal in the third quarter, and Black extended the lead to 32-14 with a 26-yard touchdown run early in the fourth.
“The toughest thing was their running back didn’t go down easy,” Harrisburg coach Calvin Everett said. “He’s a tough tackle. He was a lot tougher than what we thought he would be.”
Everett also credited a Central Catholic offensive line that’s bigger than most and starts Division I recruits at four of the five spots. Black gained yards on 32 of his 37 carries and never got stopped for a loss.
“They have a big offensive line that gets bodies on you,” Everett said. “They did a great job of that.”
Harrisburg was led by Mickens, who rushed for 109 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. Ranked by ESPN as the 13th-best running back prospect nationally, Mickens on Tuesday flipped his commitment from Penn State to Virginia Tech and new coach James Franklin.
Mickens cut Central Catholic’s lead to 15-6 with a 3-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. His 16-yarder in the third narrowed the gap to 25-14.
A 39-yard run in the first half was Mickens’ longest of the day, but the Vikings were successful overall in limiting his big plays.
“We pride ourselves on running the ball and stopping the run and I think we did both of those really well,” said Thompson, a linebacker and running back, who battled through an ankle injury to stay in the game.
Harrisburg quarterback Mikal Shank passed for 215 yards and three interceptions. Central Catholic’s Jordan Ray picked him off twice and Zach Gleason had the other interception. The Vikings also sacked the junior three times including one by Ashton Blatt that forced a fumble.
The state semifinal matchup with Harrisburg was closer a year ago when Central Catholic won 38-33 after Black intercepted a pass in the end zone with 26 seconds remaining. Mickens scored twice that day, too.
Lehmeier said the defense this time was focused on closing off cutback lanes and trying to get to Mickens early. Mickens rushed for 228 yards against Central York in the District 3 final a week ago.
“Try to stop him before he gets started,” Lehmeier said. “He’s a big boy. He’s about 225 (pounds), and he can roll. You get that big frame out in the open space, now he’s running on littler people. We wanted to avoid that.”
Black isn’t quite as big — listed as 5-foot-8 and 180 pounds — but has a growing list of college offers that includes West Virginia, Indiana and Florida State, among others. He started the season as the team’s top running back but was sidelined after only nine carries and 34 yards combined in the first two games.
Lehmeier said the lingering soft-tissue injury left his status up in the air for weeks.
“It was aggravating,” Black said. “I was getting irritated, but I knew to trust in God, have patience and everything is going to open up.”
Black returned just in time for the WPIAL playoffs. He rushed nine times in his first game back, had 12 carries in the next game and 14 last week.
His workload was into double digits by halftime Saturday, but he said afterward that he wasn’t counting his carries. So, he was somewhat surprised to learn he’d carried 37 times.
“I was just trying to get the win,” Black said, “and do what I’ve got to do. I was paying no attention.”